Musical 'Willy Wonka' may leave a bad taste in your mouth

Wednesday

Dec 18, 2013 at 10:12 PM

Thalian production based on "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"

By John StatonJohn.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com

If you're a traditionalist who thought the 2005 movie "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," a remake of the beloved 1971 film "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory," was at best unnecessary and at worst a travesty, you're not likely to be won over, like I wasn't, by the modernized musical stage version of the story running at Thalian Hall through Sunday. Titled simply "Willy Wonka" – both films and the musical are based on the fantastic children's novel by Roald Dahl – the musical includes everything that makes the classic taste good but piles on loads of forgettable songs and jarringly contemporary references to zombies and iPads. It's like ruining the perfect piece of candy by dousing it in molasses.Aside from having selected the musical in the first place, the Thalian Association under the direction of Mike Thompson makes an at-times entertaining go of the goopy mess they've taken on, and a cast of children and adults turn in commendable performances. We meet our reclusive candy-maker of the title immediately, except he's no longer so reclusive. Entering from an opera box stage right, where he's costumed by Brian Hubbard in a lavender coat and top hat and impressively lit by Dallas LaFon, Willy Wonka (Nick Basta) not only delivers the dreamy "Pure Imagination" from the get-go, but he also serves as the show's narrator, and it's hard to develop a sense of anticipation about meeting the mysterious Wonka when he's feeding us plot points.Basta isn't a powerhouse singer, but he manages a serviceable rendition of sugary sweet "The Candy Man" and an interestingly reworked but subdued version of the psychedelic "There's No Knowing." Ultimately, though, Basta doesn't give us a sense of what Wonka's all about; there's some of the watered-down weirdness Johnny Depp brought to the movie remake but little else. As the story's real protagonist, Quinn Gonzalez brings a sweetness and likability to the role of Charlie Bucket, the poor, humble boy who, along with four spoiled brats, finds one of five golden tickets that grant them admission to Wonka's high-gated candy factory. (In a smirky nod to our foodie culture, Charlie's now a critic, rhapsodizing on his Wonka bar's "subtle tones of espresso.")Speaking of the factory, the show's in no rush to get there. First, it wades through some overly long business with Charlie's money-starved home life, where repeated jokes about the hearing loss of Grandpa George (Skip Maloney) start to grate, even as an energetic Chelsea Deaner delivers some laughs as Grandma Georgina. Emily Graham's got a fine voice as Charlie's mum, but her big tune, the delicate "Cheer Up, Charlie," doesn't carry much emotion. Unlike the original movie, Charlie now has a dad, who, although gently played by Christopher Rickert, just gives us an uninteresting character to deal with. We get a full song from German over-eater Augustus Gloop (Matthew Winner, a good singer) and his indulgent mother (Sarah Holcomb) and another from Mike Teavee (Aidan Malone, brutally bratastic), who's now an internet and gaming addict, and his boozy mom, winningly portrayed by LJ Woodard. We also meet the spoiled-rotten Veruca Salt and the gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde. Sydney Short is a lovable scene stealer as Violet – she plays her like she's channeling Honey Boo Boo, which totally works – and Abby Bowman as Veruca is sufficiently snotty and can certainly sing, even if the teenager is probably too old for the role. The main problem is that the musical overloads us with these distasteful characters, which takes the focus off Charlie. Aside from the ending and the Fizzy Lifting Drinks scene in the factory with Grandpa Joe (Lance Howell, fun as an old coot), Charlie is mostly absent from the second act. In another bit of garish excess, interviewing all of the golden ticket winners is TV reporter Phineous Trout, played by Khawon Porter. He fully disappears into his role, playing Trout as if Robin Leach had been cast in "The Hunger Games."At least "Willy Wonka" retains some of the off-kilter weirdness and message (kids, don't be brats, and parents, don't let your kids be brats) of Dahl's fabulously imaginative tale. I was worried about the casting of children and teens as Oompa Loompas (an understandable choice, given that Wilmington's probably short on dwarves who can sing), but thanks to some freaky acting, wild costuming (green hair, pink shirts and white overalls) and inspired choreography by Kendra-Goehring Garrett, the Oompas are the best part of the show. In a squirrel-tested nutshell, this version left a bad taste in my mouth. The musical is, as it should be, a separate entity from the films and the book, but there's little here to recommend it.